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What you Need to Know about, in The contact center.

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In the contact center industry we come across a lot of abbreviations and expressions that are used very often without having a clear definition about them. He You will find a list of these expressions with their definitions .

Automatic calls distribution ( ACD ) – A computerized phone system that responds to the caller with a voice menu (IVR) and connects the call to the appropriate CSR according to a set of parameters (e.g priority of skills or longest available time) . It can also distribute calls equally to agents. ACDs are the heart of call centers, or contact centers, which are widely used in the telephone sales and service departments of all organizations.

Computer-telephony integration ( CTI ) – is a computerized systems which combines the callers data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services by retrieving the caller database and get it displays at the appropriate CSR’s screen when the call gets routed to him by ACD (Automatic calls distribution)

Interactive voice response ( IVR ) is a computerized system that allows a person, typically a telephone caller, to select an option from a voice menu and otherwise interface with a computer system. Generally the system plays pre-recorded voice prompts to which the person presses a number on a telephone keypad to select the option chosen, or speaks simple answers such as “yes”, “no”, or numbers in answer to the voice prompts.

Call Work Code ( CWC ) – A number, up to 16 digits, entered by CWC agents to record the occurrence of customer-define deviants (such as account codes, social security numbers, or phone numbers) on ACD calls.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI )- factors that show certain standards and guidelines to maintain productivity.

Service Level Agreement ( SLA )- A contract between a network service provider and a customer that specifies, usually in measurable terms, what services the network service provider will furnish. Services for customers can be measured, justified, and perhaps compared with those of outsourc­ing network providers. Some metrics that SLAs may specify include: What percentage of the time services will be available; The number of users that can be served simultaneously; Specific performance benchmark to which actual performance will be periodically compared.

Average call waiting ( ACW ) – the time from the person reaching the number being called until the CSR picks up the phone (~20seconds)

Average Talk Time (ATT )- time frame within which the customer is kept in the phone (~2minutes)

Average Hold Time (AHT ) – period of time during which the customer is kept on hold (has to be as minimum as possible)

Customer Service Representative ( CSR )- person attempting and handling all the calls, providing the customer with any inquired information.

Senior Customer Service Representative ( SCSR )- CSR who is not only handling the calls but also conducting telesales.

Team Leader ( TL ) – person who plays leading role among the team, setting up an example and responsible for couching, training, guiding, motivating and encourage the CSRs to accomplish the assigned tasks as well as coordinating externally and internally and drive the team ahead towards the potential vision.

Supervisor ( SUP ) – a person who is a step above the team leader and below the managerial level, responsible for the day-to-day performance of the group, should have the authority, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline CRS, or responsibly to direct his team leaders on the efficient ways to achieving the department goals , adjust their grievances, or effectively recommend an actions to resolve the raised issues. It is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.

Customer Relationship Management ( CRM )-entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers whether it be sales or service related. The Computerization way of interaction is recently being used in the market approaching the new strategy in serving customers with each new advance in technology, especially the proliferation of self-service channels like the WEB and WAP phones, more of the relationship is being managed electronically and therefore organizations are looking for ways to personalize online experiences through tools such as help desk software, e-mail organizers and Web development.

Internet Contact Center ( ICC )- where all the required contacts and inquiries can be kept in one database, and viewed by all of the users. ICC has such features as Universal Queue, real-time and historical reporting, web collaboration, email transfer, etc.

Voice Over IP address ( VOIP )- A category of hardware and software that enables people to make telephone calls via the Internet. In simple words these hardware and software converts the voice signals into packets of data, which are transmitted on shared, public lines.

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